Texas: Ebola Victim’s Family to Be Paid by Hospital

By The Associated Press

Nov. 12, 2014

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, which treated the only Ebola patient to die in the United States, will pay his relatives an undisclosed sum and create a charitable foundation in his name, the family’s lawyer said Wednesday. The agreement heads off a lawsuit from relatives of the man, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Oct. 8. Mr. Duncan, who arrived in Texas from Liberia on Sept. 20, was initially sent away from the hospital’s emergency room with antibiotics, something Presbyterian administrators have acknowledged was a mistake. Les Weisbrod, the lawyer, declined to say how much money the family would receive but said the settlement was a “very good deal” that would provide for Mr. Duncan’s parents and his four children. The foundation will assist efforts to fight Ebola in Liberia, he said. Mr. Duncan’s nephew, Josephus Weeks, had been critical of the care Mr. Duncan received, saying his death was partly because of his race, nationality and lack of insurance. But on Wednesday, he credited hospital officials for moving quickly to settle the case and acknowledge mistakes.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 21 of the New York edition with the headline: Texas: Ebola Victim’s Family to Be Paid by Hospital. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe